The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for equalizer tap management in dual polarization fiber optic communications systems in general and, in particular, to tap correction and reseeding in an adaptive polarization mode dispersion (PMD) equalizer in such systems.
Fiber optic channels in network communications systems are well known and are considered effective for data transmission, allowing relatively high bandwidth data communication. Optical fiber used in such channels is flexible and may be bundled as cables, and is generally considered to be advantageous for long-distance communications, because light propagates through the fiber with little attenuation compared to electrical cables. Typical present day commercial optical fiber systems transmit data at 10 or 40 Gbit per second. Each fiber may carry multiple independent channels, each using a different wavelength of light in a technique known as wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM), thereby enhancing the net data rate of an optical fiber.
As more capacity is continually desired for networks, increased data transmission rates would be desirable. However, in fiber optic systems, as data rates increase various optical phenomena begin to manifest and act to limit data transmission rates. For example, optical effects from polarization mode dispersion (PMD) may have an impact on the data transmission rate.